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D'ni Grammar
OnThe language of the D'ni is both ancient and complex. For this article we will not be using the D'ni Alphabet but we will be transliterating D'ni into English. The transliterations provided in this article will be in Old Transliteration Standard (OTS). Basic Grammar Verbs The verb that you might look up in a D'ni lexicon is known as the stem. For example, let's take a look at the verb "to move"; the D'ni word is "kro". Verb forms are similar to Spanish in that to change the actor (I, you, they) you add a suffix to the end of the verb. First, let's look at the infinitive. In English, to make a verb infinitive, such as "move", you add "to" in front of it: "to move". In D'ni you add the prefix "b'-". So, "to move" in D'ni would be "b'kro". For the actor to be oneself, as in "I move", you simply use the stem, "kro". For "you move", or second person, you add a suffix "-ehm", or "kroehm". For "he/she/it moves", or third person, you add a suffix "-ehn", or "kroehn". First person plural, we, add "-eht", or "kroeht". Second person plural, you all, add "-tee", or "krotee". Third person plural, they, add "-eet", or "kroeet". See table below. Form English Suffix D'ni First person I move stem (no suffix) kro Second person you move -ehm kroehm Third person he/she/it moves -ehn kroehn First person pl. we move -eht kroeht Second person pl. you all move -tee krotee Third person pl. they move -eet kroeet infinitive to move prefix: b' b'kro Nouns * Definite article "the": To add the definite article to a D'ni noun, add the prefix "reh-". For example, master = nahvah. The master = rehnahvah. * Indefinite article "a": To add the indefinite article to a D'ni noun, add the prefix "ehrth-". (If you put "ehrth-" in front of a plural noun, it means "some".) For example, master = nahvah. A master = ehrthnahvah. * Plural noun: To make a D'ni noun plural, add the suffix "-tee" to the end of the word, just as you add "-tee" to make a verb from the "you" tense to the plural "you all" tense. (So the suffix "-tee" does not distinguish a word as a noun or a verb.) Adjectives and Adverbs * For the basic D'ni grammar, all adjectives and adverbs come after the noun or verb, not before as in English. Word Order D'ni is similar to English as far as the structure of sentence. They both follow the SVO structure: Subject + Verb + Object. For example: Atrus (subject) tied (verb) his shoes (object). Intermediate Grammar Converting Words There are various suffixes (and prefixes) in D'ni to alter the word's meaning. Following is a list of some of these suffixes. Adjectives to Nouns -(eh)th is added to the end of an adjective to make it into a noun. For example, great (gahro) becomes greatness (gahroth). Notice the "eh" in the suffix is surrounded by parentheses. The "eh" is only pronounced if required to provide fluid pronunciation to the D'ni word. Since gahro already ended in a vowel, we didn't need to add "eh". Nouns to Adjectives -ehts works the other way around, turning nouns to adjectives. So nature (vog) becomes natural (vogehts). Notice again how vog ends in a consonant, so we insert the "eh" to make the pronunciation easier. Adjective to Adverb -(eh)sh works to turn an adjective to an adverb. So simple (tehn) becomes simply (tehnehsh). Verb to Noun -tahv changes a verb into a noun. So begin (glo) becomes beginning(glotahv). Verb to Person -tahn changes a verb into the person performing the action. So work (teeg) becomes worker (teegtahn). Verb to Adjective -ahl changes a verb into an adjective. So glow (tsoihd) becomes glowing (tsoihdahl). Verb Tense Just as we used suffixes to change the person or object a verb is referring to, so too we use prefixes (with the appropriate suffix) to change the tense of the verb, that is, future, present or past. Below is a table to show the simple prefixes. (i.e. I start, I started, I will start) Simple Tense D'ni Prefix English Example D'ni Example Future bo- I will start boglo Present No prefix I start glo Past ko- I started koglo Advanced Grammar Verb Tense The following verb tenses are a little more complicated, but still intuitive. Present Progressive The present progressive tense indicates an action that continually happens. For example, I am starting. Tense D'ni Prefix English Example D'ni Example Future bodo- I will be starting bodoglo Present do- I am starting doglo Past kodo- I was starting kodoglo Notice that the future and past progressive tenses simply combine the future and past simple tense and the progressive tense (do-). Perfect The perfect tense is another verb tense we don't often think about. It's easiest to explain by example: I have started, or I had started (present, past). Tense D'ni Prefix English Example D'ni Example Future bol- I will have started bolglo Present leh- I have started lehglo Past kol- I had started kolglo Notice again, the future and past perfect tenses are formed by combined the present perfect tense and the future or past simple tenses. Category:D'ni Language